In the prior bladderless tire-curing press described in the European patent document 0 022 350, the members used to press the tire carcass against the bead-forming tools are constituted by a multiplicity of circumferentially uniformly spaced gripper arms which can be controlled in movement in the vertical and radial directions and which press segments of a segmented ring against the inner portions of the bead of the tire carcass to press, in turn, the tire carcass against the outer bead-forming members.
This tire-curing press has the drawback that the pressing surfaces on the gripper arms, because of their segmented configuration, are circumferentially discontinuous.
Another disadvantage is that the large number of pivots and control elements required for the pressing members and the camming surfaces which must be executed with considerable precision, are detrimentally affected by the heating medium with which they are in prolonged contact. As a consequence, the maintenance time and costs are elevated in such systems and production losses may be suffered when the joints or surfaces fail.
In German open application 2 228 504, a vulcanization press is described in which the bead of the carcass is engaged between the plates located within the carcass and a pair of body-forming dies. The plates have planar surfaces juxtaposed with the body-forming dies.
In German patent document P39 28 209, a system for charging a green carcass into a tire-vulcanization press is described in which the tire carcass can be tilted to fit over the pressing members of this press.
A vulcanization press for pneumatic tires is also described in German patent document 32 42 241 in which the outer tools forming the tire carcass cooperate with a pair of disks or plates having conically beveled surfaces engageable with the bead-forming tools.
German patent document 32 46 624 also relates to the construction of a tirevulcanization press and the bead-forming structures thereof.
Finally we may mention U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,401 which discloses a bead-forming structure located wherein the tire carcass and which has radially displaceable members.